No conflict

I had my observation for my annual evaluation today at school. I usually shake when an administrator evaluates me for the first time — not because I’m worried I’ll screw up, but because I have literal PTSD from my very first evaluation, back in 1997, when an administrator inexplicably decided that Halloween would be the PERFECT day to do a surprise observation that would determine the fate of a rookie’s career.

I think I’ve riffed on that before, so I’ll spare you the details, except to note that it went exactly as well as you’d expect, and after that year, I didn’t teach again for a decade.

Here in New Mexico, we don’t do surprise evaluations. You schedule your formal observations in advance and plan a nice dog-and-pony show to make yourself look good when the brass comes in.

I invited my new principal in to watch my famous conflict lesson, in which I give the kids an overview of the classic literary conflicts (man vs. man, man vs. society, man vs. himself, etc.) and then pair them up, hand out cans of Play-Doh, and call out a conflict. They then have three to five minutes to create a visual representation of that conflict. The results are invariably hilarious, and I always get 100% engagement.

My confidence in the lesson is probably one of the reasons I didn’t shake during my observation today. Another big reason is that I had a surprise guest early in the day. My observation was scheduled for second hour, but unbeknownst to me, a friend’s daughter had just hired in as a sub in our district and had to observe classes today as part of the hiring process. She was sent to my class first — a relief for her, because she got to start her day with a familiar face, and a relief for me, because I got to do a sort of dress rehearsal in front of an audience before my boss came in.

I love days that start with a little dose of serendipity.

Emily

P.S.: The featured image is one of the kids’ creations from today’s lesson. This particular sculpture represents man vs. nature, with a little Play-Doh man about to be swept away by a Play-Doh tsunami.